Agelaia multipicta

James Carpenter's taxonomic key describes characteristic features of this species such as that the "hind-wing with jugal lobe normal, not reduced," and that the head has an occipital carina present.[6] Additionally, in A. multipicta Carpenter notes the "pronotum without sinuous carina" and the "body without pale maculations, cuticle partly to entirely bluish metallic or yellowish with some bluish highlights; head in lateral view with tempera as wide or wider than eye at ocular sinus"[6]

The queen and worker castes differ significantly in appearance and ovarian development, reflecting their distinct biological functions. The non-reproductive workers have reduced ovaries and brown coloration of the middle tibia and face between the antennal insertions. Queens have a larger and hairier petiole and gaster and yellow mid tibia and face.[4]

A. multipicta is found in Mexico, Argentina, Trinidad and Southern Brazil.[2][3] Usually, their nests are observed in forest and rural habitats.[5] This may be related to the tendency of A. multipicta to use natural cavities as nest building sites which may be less prevalent in urban areas.

A. multipicta is the most abundant wasp species in Matão, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, a well-preserved area which has little variety of wasp species. The area is surrounded by citrus crops. In a study regarding forest fragmentation there were no strong tendency in A. multipicta habitation regarding habitat type, this is probably due to their generalist nature.[7]

Like other wasps in the Epiponini tribe, A. multipicta builds an exposed, single-comb nest, attached with a broad pedicel to its substrate.[8] A. multipicta's nests are exposed in a sense that they are not surrounded by an envelope. However, the nest usually occurs in spaces that are naturally enclosed, such as hollow trees and cavities in the ground. These natural structures may be filling the protective role usually fulfilled by an envelope. The combs can be irregular, not always parallel, and the cells in some findings are 3.0 mm wide and 9.0 mm deep. The variety of nest architecture and location observed in A. multipicta is thought to reflect their adaptability to the variations in cavity-like spaces present in the natural environment.[3]

Queens of A. multipicta are highly related, a condition called oligogyny. Although it has not been directly studied for this species, a similar case of high queen relatedness in a multi-queen swarming species, Polybia emaciata, supports the cyclical oligogyny hypothesis. This hypothesis entails that the number of queens declines as colonies age, making the future queens more related to each other. Cyclical oligogyny may be influencing the relatedness of A. multipicta queens, but this requires species specific scientific investigation.[11]

Despite their ability to sting, wasp nests in the Neotropics are attacked by a variety of species including birds, bats, and capuchin monkeys. In Brazil, Galbula ruficauda is an avian predator that has been witnessed attacking A. multipicta when isolated from the nest, as when foraging. It is however thought to be relatively uncommon for animals to prey on solitary wasps.[12]

A. multipicta and other wasps play an important role in the decomposition process, making holes and abrasions in carrion that allow other species access to further eat away the dead. However, by preying on fly larvae present on carrion, they are depleting other populations that are contributing to decomposition. Nevertheless, because of the demonstrated preference of this species for fresh carrion, which has less flies and fly larvae and more meat, the role of A. multipicta likely leads to greater decomposition overall.[5]